I jacked up my WJ, front and back, to install a 4" lift I got from Kolak. Before I started I spun the front drive shaft by hand to see what would happen. Nothing. After doing some test (i.e. starting the vehicle with all four tires off the ground, in 4 all time and 4 LO) the front axle does not spin even though the front drive shaft does. I hear a clicking or grinding sound. It sounds like a hammer drill. I will be tearing into the front diff tomorrow. Just curious if anyone has advice for me, or has gone thru this. I read a few threads and heard a lot of talk about lockers and checking the hubs. I don't have lockers, vari-loc or locking hubs. Thanks for any help any of you may have.

It was a really stupid problem. I got it 3 months ago. Apparently someone replaced the front drivers side axle. They installed a quadra drive axle. I do not have quadra drive. The axle I needed is about 1-1/2" longer but the same otherwise. The spline on the axle was engaged in the differential about 1/16" and the noise was those splines breaking loose. New axle, all better.